PhishMe sold to private equity consortium at $400 million valuation

PhishMe, a seven-year-old startup that helps companies train employees to avoid phishing scams, announced today that it has been purchased by a consortium of private equity firms at a valuation of $400 million. [ TechCrunch ]

BGF Ventures, a £200 million fund for startups, is shaking up and 3 partners are leaving

Business Growth Fund, or BGF, is to "scale up" its £200 million venture arm to invest in more companies outside of London.

BGF has was originally set up in 2011 with £2.5 billion in funding from the UK's five biggest funds, and launched its BGF Ventures arm in mid-2015.

One source told Business Insider that
Briggs and Stirling are thinking about setting up their own fund. [ Business Insider ]

SoftBank Thinks Tech Investors Should Enjoy Its Deal Spree

The venture capital community has been fretting about the impact SoftBank Group Corp.’s giant tech fund has on deal prices. The Japanese company says be grateful. "It’s good for investors if valuations go up as they can exit at those prices," said Rajeev Misra, head of the Vision Fund, citing deals with Didi Chuxing, Uber Technologies Inc.and WeWork Cos. where early investors exited by selling stakes to SoftBank. [ Bloomberg ]

The Bear’s Lair: The untold story of systemic gender discrimination inside UC Berkeley’s IT Department

Vanessa Kaskiris was born in Hollywood and has blond hair, but she’s not what you are probably picturing right now. Hers was a different version of the California dream. [ Pando ]

Draper Says VCs Are ‘Missing Out’ on Crypto Opportunities

Prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper says initial coin offerings are both a “challenge and an opportunity” for venture capitalists, noting that more than one-third of the companies he looks at nowadays are “tied to bitcoin or crypto in some way.” In an interview with The Information, Mr. Draper said that venture capitalists concerned about missing out on ICOs are right to worry. He said they should have ensured that their contracts with their own investors were broad enoughto allow them to invest in cryptocurrencies. [ The Information ]

Uncut Interview with Sam Altman on Masters of Scale [Audio]

Anthony Noto’s Mission as SoFi CEO: Get the Startup Ready to Go Public